Galery

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Over 50 percent of the military in Greece want to leave the army in the next five years if they have the opportunity. The main reasons they stated are poor pay, poor quality of life and family environment. This is the result of the statistical survey of VPRC on behalf of the Greek magazine Monthly Review. The survey was conducted among 1,426 soldiers of three ranks and indicates a general dissatisfaction with the conditions in the modern Greek army.

More than 80 percent of respondents insist on changing the methods of assessment of military men and approximately the same percentage consider that radical changes in the system of the army are necessary. More than 70% are dissatisfied with the fact that party affiliation plays an important role in the official hierarchy growth. There are a large percentage of soldiers who believe that there is no good vertical communication in the army, ie from the chief down to his subordinates. Slightly more than half of the respondents are dissatisfied with the pension program of the Ministry of Defence, but three out of four respondents consider the level of health services and security is pretty good.

It should be noted that 88% of the respondents explicitly stated that the pension program in the army will worsen in the next five years. The statistical survey was conducted mostly in the beginning of 2010, before the contract for financial assistance with the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission known as the Memorandum was signed. The publisher of the Monthly Review Magazine Vangelis Horafis said with a hint of black humour that if the military knew what cuts were expected in the public sector after the Memorandum became effective, the percentage of pessimists in the army would have been one hundred.

There is discontent in the Greek army also with the condition of equipment. Three out of four respondents believe that the society does not support and evaluate the importance of the military profession. 17% of the military men said with pride that being a military is not just a profession, but a vocation that deserves respect. The other important issue is connected with the rights of servicemen as almost 100% of the respondents gave a positive answer to the question "Do you think that the Greek army needs a military onbudsman?".